Mary Jane England, M.D. (Chair), is visiting professor of health policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health, where she also serves on an advisory committee for health policy and management. In 1964, Dr. England received her medical degree from Boston University and launched an international career as a child psychiatrist. As an authority on employer and employee benefits, she has brought multiple informed perspectives to bear on health care reform. She was the first commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (1979-1983), associate dean and director of the Littauer Master in Public Administration Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1983-1987), president of the American Medical Women’s Association (1986-1987), president of the American Psychiatric Association (1995-1996), and a corporate vice president of Prudential (1987-1990) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Washington Business Group on Health (1990-2001). A nationally known expert on health care and mental health parity, in 2004-2005 Dr. England chaired the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that produced the Crossing the Quality Chasm report on adaptation to mental health and substance use. In 2008 she chaired an IOM committee on parental depression and its effect on children and other family members. Recently completing a term on the Commission on Effective Leadership (2006-2009) in the American Council on Education and currently participating in the ACT project in Colorado (2009-present), Dr. England continues to serve on Mrs. Rosalynn Carter’s Task Force on Mental Health at the Carter Center and on the National Academies-IOM Board on Children and Families. As president of Regis College (2001-2011), she oversaw a number of transfor-
mations, including taking the historic undergraduate women’s college into coeducation; building its graduate programs, notably in nursing, health administration, and other health professions; and developing curricula to serve the needs of diverse populations of 21st century students through interdisciplinary pathways.
Joan Ressner Austin, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, is a distinguished professor emerita at the Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis. She is a consultant for the Intramural Program of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She has held leadership positions and has been a member of numerous professional associations, including the American Epilepsy Society (AES) (where she was president in 2005), the Epilepsy Foundation (where she served four terms on the Professional Advisory Board), and the IOM (since 2000). Her research focuses on improving the quality of life of children with epilepsy and their families and also on researching how new-onset seizures as well as chronic epilepsy impact children’s behavior, mental health, and academic performance. Dr. Austin is the recipient of many awards for her research, including the Distinguished Contribution to Nursing Science Award from the American Nurses Foundation, the AES-Milken Family Medical Foundation International Research Award for contributions to clinical research, the International Bureau for Epilepsy-International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Award of Social Accomplishment, and the Jacob Javits Award for Research in Neurosciences from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She is author of numerous articles and a reviewer and member of the editorial board of Chronic Illness as well as other journals.
Vicki Beck, M.S., is a communication consultant with nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and private companies and foundations that address public health and medical research, treatment, and education issues. She is director emerita and founder of Hollywood, Health and Society at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication’s Norman Lear Center, where she created a model for promoting and evaluating the impact of public health topics in entertainment programs. Ms. Beck’s research has focused on the effects of television health content and health campaign messages on audiences. She is the author of a number of articles and book chapters on audience research topics. Prior to USC, Beck was a senior health communications specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she advised on national health campaigns, served as the founder and director of the CDC’s entertainment education program, and conducted audience research. As a communications expert for 25 years, she has participated in numerous
committees for national health campaigns and has presented program and research results at national and international meetings of public health, medical, and scientific professional organizations.
Charles E. Begley, Ph.D., is professor of management and policy sciences and co-director of the Center for Health Services Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston School of Public Health. He is also adjunct professor in the Department of Economics at Rice University. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on the cost and burden of epilepsy as well as health disparities and access to care issues. He has been the chair or a member of several ILAE committees on issues such as health policy and the economic burden of epilepsy. He is on the editorial board of Epilepsia and is a member of the AES and the ILAE.
Malachy L. Bishop, Ph.D., CRC, is professor of rehabilitation counseling with the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. He serves on the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board, the International Bureau for Epilepsy’s Research Task Force, and the clinical advisory committee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Kentucky-Southeast Indiana Chapter. Dr. Bishop’s clinical background includes rehabilitation psychology, neuropsychology, assessment of injured workers, and rehabilitation counseling. He conducts research in the psychosocial aspects of chronic neurological conditions, including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and brain injury; quality of life and adaptation to disability; and employment issues for people with epilepsy. Dr. Bishop is on the editorial board of the Journal of Rehabilitation and the Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, and he has authored many journal articles, book chapters, and monographs in health care and rehabilitation.
Lionel Carmant, M.D., is full professor in the department of pediatrics at the Université de Montréal, Canada. Dr. Carmant is a clinician scientist who is in charge of the Epilepsy Program at Hôpital Sainte Justine and of the Epilepsy Research Group at the institution’s research center. He also coordinates the international effort supporting the Port-au-Prince Epilepsy Clinic in Haiti. As part of that effort, he initiated the Hispaniola Project, which combines resources with the Dominican Republic to treat Haitians who require epilepsy surgery. More recently, he was involved in setting up the first Commission of African Affairs for the ILAE. He has written a number of scientific articles, and his current research focuses on the mechanisms that are involved in seizure-induced brain damage as well as ways to prevent them.
Carolyn Cocotas, R.T., M.P.A., CHC, CHPC, is senior vice president of Quality and Corporate Compliance at F·E·G·S Health and Human Services System in New York City, one of the largest voluntary, nonprofit health, education, and human services organizations in the country. F·E·G·S provides treatment, housing, job training and placement, and case management to persons with severe mental health conditions and/or developmental or other disabilities. F·E·G·S provides counseling, support, education, and prevention programs for those facing family problems, domestic violence, life-limiting illness, aging, and other issues, as well as in-school, out-of-school, and after-school programs to help at-risk young people complete their education and transition to productive adulthood. Previously, Ms. Cocotas was director of Community Health Innovation at Affinity Health Plan, where she directed innovation work in care delivery to the Medicaid population in New York City. Over the span of her career, Ms. Cocotas has held a number of progressively responsible positions throughout the health care industry, including at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. House of Representatives, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and Kaiser Permanente. She is a member of the IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy.
Sandra Cushner-Weinstein, P.T., LICSW, LCSW-C, is director of Services and Camps in the Center of Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where she develops programs and runs camps for children with epilepsy and other chronic neurological and health disorders. She also works directly with children diagnosed with chronic health conditions and neurological disorders and their families as a psychotherapist, develops programs, promotes education, and conducts research. In addition, Ms. Cushner-Weinstein is assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at George Washington University. In the past, she was director of the Epilepsy Foundation for the National Capitol Area and team leader for the DC Epilepsy Learning Collaborative. She also developed the Newly Diagnosed Seizure Clinic and produced an educational DVD in English and Spanish Coping with Epilepsy: From Seizures to Success. She has held several committee and board appointments, including the Professionals in Epilepsy Care and the Educational Committees at the AES. Her research focuses on the impact of condition severity on quality of life and parenting stress as well as predictors of adaptive coping and resiliency. She has published numerous abstracts and papers and serves as a reviewer for several professional journals and web-based resources.
Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, M.D., Ph.D., is professor of neurology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Director of Clinical Research at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine. Dr.
Diaz-Arrastia’s research interests are focused in the area of understanding the molecular-, cellular-, and tissue-level mechanisms of secondary neuronal injury and neuroregeneration. Dr. Diaz-Arrastia received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Baylor College of Medicine in 1988, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. After a 1-year medicine internship at Beth Israel Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, he completed his neurology residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. From 1993 to 2011, Dr. Diaz-Arrastia was on the faculty of the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern, where he was promoted to professor in 2006. Dr. Diaz-Arrastia has published more than 100 peer-reviewed primary research papers, as well as more than 20 invited reviews and book chapters. He has also served on several national committees related to traumatic brain injury research and practice. He has served on expert panels convened by the IOM, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Aging. He has also served on Scientific Review Committees for the NIH, the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, Alzheimer’s Association, and the Victoria (Australia) Neurotrauma Fund, among others. He is also a peer reviewer for the leading journals in neurology, neuroscience, neurotrauma, and neurorehabilitation. In 2008 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Baylor College of Medicine.
David Grant, Ph.D., is the director of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) at the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health Policy Research. CHIS is the nation’s largest state health survey and a state-of-the-science public health project that has become a national model for building evidence-based health policy and for widespread dissemination of data and findings. Dr. Grant joined the CHIS team in 2001 and became the project’s director in 2006. As the CHIS director, he is responsible for all aspects of the project, including the planning, data collection, and dissemination phases of CHIS, under the direction of principal investigator Dr. E. Richard Brown. In his capacity as director, he works with a broad range of agencies, including federal, state, and local health agencies; philanthropic and community-based organizations; advocacy groups; and academic researchers to meet their diverse needs for population health data. Dr. Grant has collaborated with the CDC to include epilepsy content in several CHIS cycles, analyze and publish epilepsy findings from CHIS, and conduct focus groups and cognitive interviews to aid in the development of new questions on epilepsy for use in population-based surveillance efforts.
Christianne N. Heck, M.D., M.M.M., is the director of the USC Adult Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, and she has served as chief operating officer of USC Neurologists, Inc., a private academic practice, in Los An-
geles. Her board certification in neurology includes subspecialty training in epilepsy. She is a board member and professional adviser to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles and is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. She completed a master’s degree in medical management at the USC Marshall School of Business in 2005 and the Donald M. Palatucci Advocacy and Leadership Forum sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology in 2006. She is a member of the California Neurology Society Board of Directors, where she actively participates in opinions and discussions regarding patient care and access to care within the State of California. She volunteers regularly for Hollywood, Health and Society of the USC Annenberg School of Communications Norman Lear Center, whose goals are the promotion and evaluation of public health topics in film and television. Her research focuses on innovative approaches to treating epilepsy, including vagus nerve stimulation, responsive neurostimulation, and gamma knife radiosurgery; her expertise also includes services to minority populations as well as furthering understanding of status epilepticus, neuronal injury, memory dysfunction, and the psychosocial impact of epilepsy.
Dale C. Hesdorffer, Ph.D., M.P.H., is associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, New York. She is a member of the AES. She is also on the board of Vision 20-20 and the Professional Advisory Board for the Epilepsy Foundation. Her research is focused on studies on the comorbidity of epilepsy, status epilepticus, and incidence and prevalence of epilepsy, as well as on traumatic brain injury. Dr. Hesdorffer co-chairs the Commission on Epidemiology for the ILAE and serves on the Psychiatry Task Force of the AES. Dr. Hesdorffer served on the IOM Committee on Gulf War and Health: Brain Injury in Veterans and Long-Term Health Outcomes. She has written many journal articles and serves on the editorial board for Epilepsy Research and Epilepsy and Behavior. She is also a contributing editor for Epilepsy Currents.
Gregory L. Holmes, M.D., is chair of the department of neurology and professor of neurology and pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. He has been a member of many professional society boards, including the AES (where he was president from 2005 to 2006), the American EEG (Electroencephalography) Society, the Eastern Association of Electroencephalographers, and the Child Neurology Society. He also served on the Food and Drug Administration’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee and has been on a number of NIH study sections. His research focuses on pediatric epilepsy, including the long-term consequences of seizures on brain development, the patho-
physiological basis of epilepsy, and status epilepticus. Dr. Holmes has been the recipient of many awards, including the United Cerebral Palsy Association Sidney Farber Research Award, the AES Research Award, the ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy Award, the Child Neurology Society Bernard Sachs Award, and the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society Pierre Gloor Research Award. He is the author of numerous articles and books and has been on the editorial board of several journals, including Epilepsy Research, Pediatric Drugs, Epilepsy and Behavior, Brain and Development, the Journal of Epilepsy, and the Annals of Neurology.
Paul E. Jarris, M.D., M.B.A., is executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. He served as medical director of Vermont’s largest nonprofit health maintenance organization, Community Health Plan, from 1992 to 1996. He was president and CEO of Vermont Permanente Medical Group from 1998 to 2000, as well as CEO of Primary Care Health Partners, Vermont’s largest statewide primary care medical group, from 1999 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he served as president of Jarris and Associates, an independent consulting firm providing services to major regional health plans and provider groups. He was appointed commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health by Governor Jim Douglas in March 2003. Throughout his career, Dr. Jarris has maintained an active clinical family practice, including work in federally qualified health centers, and he served as physician to an inner city school and a shelter for homeless adolescent youth. He graduated from the University of Vermont and received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He interned at Duke-Watts Family Medicine Residency Program in Durham, North Carolina, and completed his residency at the Swedish Family Practice Residency Program in Seattle, Washington. He received an M.B.A. from and completed a faculty development fellowship at the University of Washington. Dr. Jarris is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Medical Management and is clinical assistant professor of family medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Dilip V. Jeste, M.D., is a distinguished professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is director of the UCSD Geriatric Psychiatry Division as well as of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded Advanced Center on Innovation in Services and Intervention Research, focusing on psychosis in older populations. He is an IOM member and is the principal investigator on several research and training grants. He is the President-Elect of the American Psychiatric Association. He completed his psychiatry residency at Cornell and neurology residency at George Washington University. He was chief
of Units on Movement Disorders and Dementias at NIMH before joining UCSD in 1986. He is a past president of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry and founding president of the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology. He is the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. He has published 10 books and more than 500 journal articles. He is in the Institute of Scientific Information’s list of the world’s most cited authors among publishing researchers of the last two decades. He has received multiple awards for research, education, and service to the field. He was a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council as well as of the NIH Council of Councils. His current areas of interest include informed consent and successful cognitive aging.
Patricia Osborne Shafer, R.N., M.N., is an epilepsy clinical nurse specialist at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and a resource specialist with the Epilepsy Therapy Project. She is a past member and chair of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board, a past member of the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation, and a current member of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. She has served on the AES board of directors and numerous committees and work groups. Ms. Shafer has also participated in the creation of the North American Declaration on Epilepsy, a public health agenda for epilepsy, and guidelines for first seizures and women with epilepsy. She is an affiliate member of the CDC-funded Managing Epilepsy Well Network and a member of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses; and she has served on numerous research review panels and advisory committees for regulatory reform, disability concerns, and public health concerns in epilepsy. Her clinical and research interests include self-management and health education in epilepsy, psychosocial concerns, women’s issues, and treatment options and consequences of refractory epilepsy. She received a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Vermont and a master’s in nursing at the University of Washington. Ms. Shafer brings a personal perspective to the committee, having lived with epilepsy for many years.
Joseph I. Sirven, M.D., is a professor of neurology and chair of the department of neurology at the College of Medicine of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Previously, he served as director of education for Mayo Clinic Arizona with oversight of all educational activities at the Mayo Clinic Arizona campus, including programs for medical students, residents, fellows, Ph.D. candidates, nurses, allied health professionals, and continuing medical education. He is currently education chair for the Epilepsy Section of the American Academy of Neurology, chair of the Annual Course Committee
for the AES, and chair-elect of the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation. He is also editor-in-chief of Epilepsy.com. Dr. Sirven has published extensively on epilepsy and its treatment. His interests in epilepsy include status epilepticus, surgical therapy, epilepsy in older adults, and psychosocial issues, particularly those involving Hispanic populations and transportation. His articles have appeared in Neurology, Epilepsia, Lancet, Archives of Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Epilepsy and Behavior, and Mayo Clinic Proceedings. He is editor of four textbooks: Clinical Neurology of the Older Adult; the American Epilepsy Society’s Introduction to Epilepsy; Clinical Epilepsy; and An Atlas of Video EEG Monitoring. He is currently co-director of the Epilepsy Program at Mayo Clinic Arizona.
